The Balsillie Papers provides clear, concise, peer-reviewed articles about today’s most complex issues in global governance and international affairs.

Whose Law Governs Canadian Data?

The CLOUD Act, Executive Agreements and Digital Sovereignty

SPECIAL REPORT

MARCH 11, 2026

Barry Appleton

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LATEST PAPER

Global Climate Policy Durability Amid American Backtracking: Cooling Sector Chemicals in the Kigali Era

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Barry Rabe

This paper examines the current understudied international climate policy regime, considering its key design features and future viability amid recent US policy shifts hostile to many global and domestic climate mitigation efforts.

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RECENT PAPERS

Exploring the Influence of Big Tech Lobbying on Canadian Tech Policy

Renee Black, Edward Wu, Femi Gbolahan, YeJin Kang and Sadaf Qureshi
This paper demonstrates the need for a comprehensive research agenda to better understand the evolving policy influence environment, and create policy options to strengthen oversight, restore public trust and advance balanced digital and AI policy.

Do Chatbot Developers Act Responsibly toward their Users?

Susan Ariel Aaronson and Michael Moreno
Developers struggle to incorporate responsible AI into their practice and products, for several reasons. In this paper, we examine whether four major AI developers — OpenAI, Google, xAI and DeepSeek — act responsibly when developing and deploying chatbots. We focus on a key element of AI responsibility: user rights and welfare.

Beyond the App Store: Reproductive Governance and the Limits of Digital Autonomy

Marika Jeziorek and Natasha Tusikov
Digital contraceptive and fertility-tracking apps are increasingly central to how reproductive autonomy is imagined, marketed and managed. This paper interrogates how digital contraceptive apps govern reproduction through mechanisms of responsibilization, commodification and consent.